From the level of technology it is known of several different automated parcel sending devices and terminals. Widely known are the package or parcel terminals that have a locker with a separate door for each postal object or storage item. Such widely known solutions have several drawbacks.
The generally known parcel terminal solutions are of the kind where they have been placed in a long row alongside a wall, with their backs against each other or they have been built from modules that allow the parcel terminals to be placed in the  or  shape into the corners of the rooms. There are lockers with doors of different sizes corresponding to the parcels of different sizes. In the case of different senders and recipients it is preferred to use separate lockers for each parcel, which is why the terminals are too big and space-consuming in order to accommodate enough parcels. For example, it is expensive to use the services of parcel terminals in the shopping and entertainment centers, sports centers, airports, etc. where there is little floor space and the rental space is expensive. However, the parcel terminals cannot, at the same time, be built higher because shorter people or people in wheelchairs would not be able to retrieve postal objects from higher lockers, or place packages there. Similarly, in the case of smaller packages, it is complicated for users to get them from lower or higher lockers.
Although the generally known parcel terminals have lockers of different sizes, in the case of small parcels (for example, letters, books, essentials, pens, goods from e-shops, etc.) only a small proportion of the space on the locker has been used and most space in the lockers remains unoccupied. Although there are lockers of smaller height for storing or sending smaller parcels, however, they are inconvenient to use because due to the depth of the space, the parcel may, upon sending, move to the back wall and therefore it is complicated to retrieve that parcel.
Widely known parcel terminals are thus of smaller storage capacity, take up too much space, are inconvenient for the user while entering small-sized packages, letters and other items for storage or sending, and upon retrieving. The generally known solutions have used doors, which is why it is complicated to retrieve items when they have been placed further inside the locker space. It is also complicated to retrieve or take out smaller items from higher lockers. Such wide-spread generally known solutions are offered by such manufacturers as, for example, DHL, KEBA, UPS, Amazon Locker and others. Examples of solutions of such widely known parcel terminals of lockers with doors could be, for example, the solutions described in patent applications WO2009148388 (COMBIPLATE AB), 10.12.2009 and US2012326840 (DEUTSCHE POST AG), 27.12.2012.
The closest solution to the present invention could be considered the patent application GB2437967 (BYBOX HOLDINGS LTD), 14.11.2007 which describes an alternative version of a parcel terminal with an automated locking system fitted with a sensor, electronic controller and lock; and according to which the parcel terminal uses large drawers, instead of lockers with doors, that involve a moving back panel. In the case of an empty drawer, in the closed position of the drawer, the back panel has been moved forward against the front panel of the drawer. Upon opening the drawer, the drawer together with the front panel moves forward and the back panel of the drawer remains in the same position as in the closed position of the drawer, creating space into the drawer for placing items into. Upon closing the drawer where a parcel or an item to be stored has been placed into, the back panel moves into the inside or the parcel terminal together with the drawer. The purpose of the given solution is to offer an automated parcel storage terminal most suitable for using in public places, wishing to decrease the problem with it where, in a public location, a small child or an animal might enter an unattended automated locker and get trapped in there. That kind of solution also aims at reducing the problem where, in public places, explosive substances or other illicit items might get into an unattended open locker before it is closed. These problems have been solved in the given solution with a moving internal wall of the terminal that moves forward in the terminal against the door of the locker or against the front panel of the drawer upon opening the locker, thus reducing the risk that something unwanted might get inside the terminal. The drawback of such a solution is that most of the space in the terminal or drawer, in the case of smaller packages or stored items, has been left unused. As it is statistically known that people tend to send smaller packages more often, then in such an automated terminal, with the lockers empty for the most part, most of the automated terminal space is unused which makes the cost per terminal very big; or, when it is a location with lots of users, more terminals must be added which, in its turn increases the cost. Another drawback of such a solution is its uncomfortable usage since the courier, the recipient or sender of the package and also the person storing items has problems retrieving parcels from the highest or lowest lockers because it is not clearly visible where the parcel is located and/or it is hard to reach the parcel, or it is necessary to stretch hands deep into the locker.
In addition to the known solutions there is also a problem with the situation of receiving bigger parcels where the measures of the cross sections of the parcel are approximately the same as the measures of the locker and the parcel has tightly been pushed into the locker. By trying to get their fingers between the parcel and the locker walls, the users may injure themselves or damage the parcel.
Furthermore, the solution described in the patent application GB2437967, or other known solutions depending on the location of the parcel terminal, season and the habits of the users does not enable the possibility to offer users more versatile usage options with terminals with a suitable size and number of lockers. It is generally known that depending on the location of the terminal (for example airport, shopping center, sports centers, big complexes of apartment buildings, offices, etc.), and the time (for example Christmas and other important days or events), the users have habits to send parcels of different types and sizes.